Six young people were hospitalized after an “all ages” concert at a Toronto nightclub this weekend, a city councillor said Tuesday.
The illnesses are in addition to the death of a 19-year-old woman, who died after being rushed to the emergency room.
“This has been going on way too long,” said Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti.
One woman at the event described seeing someone being helped by staff.
“She went past and security was taking her out along with a couple of her friends, but they all had to like carry her,” said Jamie Lee.
“We thought that we were going to lose her,” said the father of a 16-year-old who was taken to hospital Frida night. She has since been released from hospital.
He didn’t want to be identified to protect his daughter, but he is calling for an end to “all ages” dance parties. Mammoliti is as well.
He said at “all ages” concerts there are overdoses no one knows about because of privacy issues, but he feels that information needs to be made public.
“If we knew about all of the people who are OD-ing who are children – literally 13, 14-year-old children at these events – I think most people would change their position on this,” said Mammoliti.
But Toronto’s mayor said he doesn’t support a ban on all ages events.
“I’m not sure that is going to address the problem of the use of these drugs,” said John Tory.
The Drug Awareness Society of Toronto said in addition to taking a hard look at “all ages” parties, fatal party-drug overdoses should be reviewed more closely.
READ MORE: Woman dead, 16-year-old girl hospitalized after overdosing at popular Toronto nightclub
Those overdoses aren’t tracked by Toronto Police or the coroner’s office.
“The only way to really hone in on it and overcome it is if we work together and really focus on what is happening today,” said Bhawan Sandhu.
REBEL, which is owned by INK Entertainment, hasn’t answered any questions posed by Global News.
“REBEL has a zero tolerance drug policy, and also subjects every patron entering the venue to a full search. Anyone who is caught with an illegal substance is immediately denied entry,” said a spokesperson for INK Entertainment in a statement emailed to Global News Monday.
READ MORE: Drug overdose deaths continue to rise in B.C. in 2016
Meanwhile, Jamie Lee said any venue can only do so much. She also said it was a wild night and she has never seen anything quite like it.
“I don’t know. There’s a lot of people that had a bad batch of something,” said Lee.
What was just supposed to be a good time ended up costing one young woman her life.